ORONO, Maine — University of Maine men’s hockey coach Red Gendron said he isn’t sure who will start in goal on Friday night when his winless Black Bears entertain Vermont in the first of a two-game Hockey East set with the Catamounts.
The teams will have a quick turnaround as Saturday’s game will begin at 4 p.m.
Freshman Rob McGovern has started the last six games but got lifted in the first period of Sunday’s 6-0 loss to UMass Lowell after surrendering four goals on eight shots.
Senior Matt Morris replaced him and finished with 23 saves on 25 shots, including several gems.
McGovern had held opponents to two goals or less in his previous four starts and in six of his eight starts.
Morris hasn’t started since he allowed four goals on 33 shots in a 4-0 loss to Quinnipiac on Oct. 20.
McGovern has a 2.45 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage to go with his 0-6-2 record, and Morris has a 3.15 GAA, a .914 save percentage and an 0-2-1 record. Sophomore Sean Romeo has yet to earn a start but stopped all seven shots he saved in the third period of the loss to Quinnipiac.
“I will decide later in the week what I’m going to do about the goaltending,” Gendron said Tuesday.
McGovern had been solid but admitted he had an “off day” on Sunday.
“There are no excuses. I have to be better,” said McGovern.
It was Maine’s first home game.
“I wasn’t nervous. It just didn’t go the right way for me,” said McGovern. “It happens sometimes. I’m just going to stick to what I know, what my strengths are, and work hard.”
Gendron was encouraged by Morris’ performance.
“He played well and, at other times this season, he has played well,” said Gendron. “He didn’t necessarily play that badly at Quinnipiac. The whole team didn’t play well.”
Morris also was encouraged.
“All things considered, I thought I played pretty well,” said Morris. “Coming into a game is a little tough. But, as a goalie, you have to prepare as if you are going to play. You never know what’s going to happen.”
He said he has continued to develop his game in practice.
“Every day, you want to work hard and get better. That’s been my mentality the whole season,” said Morris. “I’ve focused on cutting down the angles and [controlling] rebounds. Those are things that make a big difference. You have to make sure your feet are set. I only concentrate on the things I can control: lateral movement, angles and stuff.”
The Maine players have confidence in their goaltenders.
“Rob has been lights out for us. He has given us a chance to win every time out,” said junior left wing Blaine Byron. “[Morris] has done a great job as well.”
Meanwhile, UMaine, which has been shut out in three of its last four games and is the lowest scoring team among the nation’s 60 Division I teams (1.0 goals per game), will try to finally break out of its drought.